Videos

Plasma Zoo: Gyroresonant Scattering

In a background magnetic field, represented by the cyan arrows, two electrons are propagating to the right, executing identical gyromotion. A circularly polarized electromagnetic wave approaches the upper electron from the left.

Parker Solar Probe

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will be the first-ever mission to “touch” the sun. The spacecraft, about the size of a small car, will travel directly into the sun’s atmosphere about 4 million miles from our star’s surface. Launch is slated for summer 2018.

3 NASA Satellites Recreate Solar Eruption in 3-D

Using data from three different satellites, scientists have developed new models that recreate, in 3-D, CMEs and shocks, separately. This movie illustrates the recreation of a CME and shock that erupted from the Sun on March 7, 2011.

Send Your Name to the Sun with Parker Solar Probe

NASA’s historic Parker Solar Probe mission will launch in summer 2018 to travel through the Sun’s atmosphere, closer to the solar surface than any spacecraft before it, facing brutal heat and radiation conditions – and you can send your name along for the ride.

Mapping Particle Injections in Earth’s Magnetosphere

As particles are injected into the space around Earth, shown in various colors here, spacecraft orbiting the planet observe their signatures.

How Solar Flares Affect Earth

A team of scientists led by Laura Hayes - a solar physicist who splits her time between NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland – investigated a connection between solar flares and Earth’s atmosphere.

Parker Solar Probe Moves to Goddard | Time Lapse

Time-lapse video shows the packing up and moving of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.

Parker Solar Probe Gets its Revolutionary Heat Shield: Time Lapse

In this time-lapse video taken on Sept. 21, 2017, the thermal protection system – the heat shield — for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft is shown during installation at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

SDO Spots X8.2-Class Solar Flare, Sept. 10, 2017

This video shows the Sept. 10, 2017, X8.2-class solar flare as observed by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. The video shows a blend of light from the 171- and 304-angstrom wavelengths.

September 2017 Starts With Flare

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured images of the events. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however – when intense enough – they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

Two Weeks in the Life of a Sunspot

On July 5, 2017, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watched AR26665, an active region — an area of intense and complex magnetic fields — rotate into view on the sun. The satellite continued to track the region as it grew and eventually rotated across the sun and out of view on July 17.

2 Minutes, 6 Hands, 1 Chance

A team of three scientists have two minutes to complete an experiment during the 2017 total solar eclipse.

Sun Shreds Its Own Eruption

On September 30, 2014, multiple NASA observatories watched what appeared to be the beginnings of a solar eruption. A filament — a serpentine structure consisting of dense solar material and often associated with solar eruptions — rose from the surface, gaining energy and speed as it soared. But instead of erupting from the Sun, the filament collapsed, shredded to pieces by invisible magnetic forces.

Two Weeks in the Life of a Sunspot

On July 5, 2017, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watched AR26665, an active region — an area of intense and complex magnetic fields — rotate into view on the sun. The satellite continued to track the region as it grew and eventually rotated across the sun and out of view on July 17.

NASA’s SDO Watches a Sunspot Turn Toward Earth

An active region on the sun – an area of intense and complex magnetic fields – has rotated into view on the sun and seems to be growing rather quickly in this video captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory between July 5-11, 2017.

A Solar Eruption in 5 Steps

Scientists from Durham University in the United Kingdom and NASA now propose that a universal mechanism can explain the whole spectrum of solar eruptions. They used 3-D computer simulations to demonstrate that a variety of eruptions can theoretically be thought of as the same kind of event, only in different sizes and manifested in different ways.

Rossby Waves on the Sun Could Aid in Space Weather Prediction

To predict weather on a planet, we look at Rossby waves, large movement patterns in the atmosphere, like the jet stream. Just as on Earth, the conditions on the sun are constantly changing. This is why scientists were excited to discover Rossby waves on the sun.

Rossby Waves on Sun

In this north pole view of the sun, the brightpoints can be seen circling counter-clockwise, revealing the magnetized Rossby waves flowing beneath the surface.

Leaky Radiation Belts

Since their discovery at the dawn of the Space Age, Earth’s radiation belts continue to reveal new complex structures and behaviors.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory: Year 7 Ultra HD (4k)

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has now captured nearly seven years worth of ultra-high resolution solar footage. This time lapse shows that full run from two of SDO’s instruments. The large orange sun is visible light captured by HMI.